Shadow
by Dragon of Ice and Light
Summary: Time waits for no-one. Shadows hide enough, they hide a side of us that no-one sees. 1962 is when everything changes, the events are set in motion for the world to change. ErikxOCxCharles OC centric HIATUS
1. Chapter 1 - Updated

**_Prologue part one  
><em>**

**_1900, New York_**

_The wind whistled, as the midday sun shone brightly down upon the busy, modest ever growing city of New York. Each citizen carried on by, living their lives much like the day that came before. Shadows moved, passing others as they went. No-one noticed the three individuals as they turned down and enter into a dark, dingy alley. Within these depths, a meeting of minds would come to pass but New York would not notice._

_"You realize we've got a long wait ahead of us" A singular, feminine voice spoke, sighing frustrated at the very thought of waiting once more. "How long, are we talking?" Another perked up, curious at exactly how long this time would be. Each time was different, nothing was ever the same. Silence followed, no-one wanted to answer that particular question._

_"We're sixty two years early" This was not the what they wanted to hear, they were more than a d__ecade early. The key players in the events to come, had not even __been born yet__. They were not even a twinkle in their mother's eye. Much still stood __in the way, __they were going to be able to do nothing but wait in the shadows. All there was to do was simply exist in the background, let history play out the way it was meant to happen. Their three shadows were all that anyone would see if they dared glance in their direction. Each a master of their own power but never truly using their gifts unless it was the last and only option they had left when all others were exhausted and if it was for their very survival or the survival of their nearest and dearest._

_"SIXTY TWO YEARS!" The second voice boomed angrily, not wanting to wait six decades, that was simply too long and too much to ask of him. "Hush, someone might hear us" A paranoid third voice chimed in. What would happen if someone, someone curious listened in, listened too closely and learnt more they should do._

_"No-one cares, they are too wound up in their own lives to notice us" The cool, calming female added, trying to reassure the others and end this argument before it got too heated. "We are shadows nothing more" This statement which quickly quieten the others, doubts however still lingering under the surface but no one wanted to speak up, not wanting to challenge their leader. "We wait, we live as we always have done in the darkness, watching observing the world as time marches on" This was an order not a mere statement "In thirty seven years, on the roof top of the highest building in the city, we meet again" It was set in stone, the time and place for the next meeting "Until then, live, love and make something for yourselves" The three sets of eyes locked with one another, taking in the emotion that lay behind, imprinting each feature of one another's faces to memory. It would be a long time before they saw each other again. _

_"Don't be late, we will have much to discuss when next we meet" As the last word left her lips, she turned on her heel and left the alley, disappearing into the crowd as they passed by the mouth of the alleyway. The other two soon followed, going their own way, heading back into the world, becoming just another faceless individual whilst waiting for their moment, waiting for the right moment to step back into the light._


	2. Chapter 2 - Updated

_**Prologue part two**_

_**1937, New York, Empire State Building**_

_Thirty seven years had passed. Each one of them had aged, each one of them had lived and loved. Some had lost, felt such consuming grief that never before had they felt when they had heard the news that their loved ones had died and passed into the next life. However all three of them were still alive, longing to see one another again. To speak and understand the truth of what lay ahead for them._

_"We must make this quick" One voice piped up, pulling his wool jacket tightly around his body, trying to shut out the chill that hung in air as it whipped harshly past him. Winter was coming. "My wife will wonder where I am, if I am away too long" He sighed frustrated by this interruption to his rather simple but happy life however he long since known that this meeting was coming. The thought of this meeting had never truly left his mind. "We all have lives to lead my friend" Another added, trying to empathize with his companion. _

_Much had changed, no longer were they fresh-faced, young and agile as they had once all been all those many years ago. Age now showed clearly upon each one of their faces. Hair had retreated, grey and thinned. Wrinkles had deepened but this was how it was to be. None of them were immortal, they were simply different, brought and bound together by a promise. "We all knew this was coming" The only female of the group said, knowing that it was time to speak of what was to come. It was time to discuss the future no-one of them would see, for one reason or another._

_"We are different, always hiding in the shadows, in fear of what might happen" She spoke softly, knowing that she had no real answer to the obvious question plaguing the minds of her two companions. "Why, must we suffer like this?" The most paranoid of the three added, he always questioned everything, hating that gift was his and his alone. It was curse in his eyes. The world was black and white to him, there was no middle ground. He suffered, causing rage to build and build within his heart, tainting and embittering him against the world. The world quickly had become his enemy._

_"It is what we are, we must accept it" The calmer male added, fearing for the sanity of his old friend and companion. "WE ARE FREAKS OF NATURE!" Stephan screamed back at him, whose laid-back nature often rubbed him up the wrong way. Much had changed in thirty-seven years, as one grew up, the other remained the same, refusing to change, to move on and accept what simply was. Alyssa was having none of this, this was getting them nowhere fast. Was this negativity all they could speak of? When there was much still left to discussed. "Stephan enough!" she snapped, her anger was dripping like venom from her words, as her eyes narrowed as she stared heatedly at him._

_"Do you think I want to lie to my husband each morning after suffering such violent visions of whats to come. Do you really think, I wanted this curse? These constant terrors that haunts my every waking moment." Each word was filled with such fiery contentment for the man that stood before her, her one time fling that burnt hot and fast, how quick the passion had come and gone but he still remained her rather awkward friend. Their relationship had changed, it had wilted but survived but it never had truly recovered to the extent it once was. __"To see what our children will face and not be able to do a damn thing about it" She had revealed much in those very carefully chosen few words. Her dreams of late had been filled with images of people and places that she did not recognize but still she made a written record of each and every vision._

_"Alyssa, all your power consists of is seeing bits and pieces of the future in your dreams. You can hide unlike me" Stephan spat back hatefully at her. He turned to the now the now silent, frowning third-party who had been quietly observing the interaction between the two of them on the other side of the roof. "Jackson, you change into any animal you come across, that's nothing" He scoffed quickly dismissing his friend's ability as nothing compared to his own, which had brought so much grief, and pain over the years. This had caused him to built a wall of fear around himself and his now fully blackened heart._

_"Stephan, you can't blame yourself for what happened" Alyssa started, trying his sway him from this path he was walking down, but quickly she found her sentence cut off mid flow by another angry rant from Stephan. "I KILLED my father, simply by touching his arm" He said through gritted teeth, as he relived the horrific memory of that night, the night that changed everything in a blink of an eye "I stopped his heart, the doctor ruled it as a simple heart attack but I know different, I shocked him and ended his life" He turned on his heel in shame " This is a waste of my time" Quickly, he started to leave, heading for the door on the other side of the roof. Stephan questioned why he had even come here in the first place. He had up and left his heavily pregnant wife at home to worry about where he was and if he was coming back._

_"Alyssa, he is never going to listen" Jackson chimed in, bring her out of her thoughts, offering her a small smile trying to alter the mood that had surfaced from Stephan's self-hatred._

_"I know Jackson but this heavy, all-consuming hatred that he feels for himself, he is going to pass it onto his son" She warned him as her eyes followed Stephen's retreating form. It was simple and straight to the point, this was what lay ahead for their friend. Soon the steel fire door slammed shut, their friend had become truly lost. Shock quickly spread across Jackson's handsome features "His son? What else are you holding back Alyssa?" he questioned the precognitive, trying to gain more information but he knew from previous experiences that she would never reveal anything unless it was completely necessary. A sigh escaped her lips as she gathered herself, working out the words to use, what to say. Maybe being straightforward and direct would be best in this situation._

_"His wife is eight months pregnant, it's a baby boy. The boy will grow up to be just as jaded as his father" She added, sorrow flowed from her lips, curling tightly around her words. "My own daughter, my sweet Cara will suffer as we all have" Her young daughter, her baby girl who slept deeply at home tucked in bed at this late hour. Alyssa had not wanted to leave her, with only her unaware and slumbering husband as company, that man could sleep through anything it seemed. "We are drawing closer with every passing day Jackson, but we will not see the fruits of our labor." Her warning was vague but the terrible message was clear. The three of them would lose their lives long before the start of the chain of events that they were waiting for in which the world around them would change forever. It was the sad but harsh truth which both of them had accepted long ago._

_"Our children have a great and terrible task placed upon their shoulders, weighing them down but the world will be a different place because of it" With that she strode past him, leaving Jackson standing alone on the roof top, confused, trying to take into account what he had just learnt from that. "I have no children, what was she talking about?" he muttered to himself before he followed after his friend through the door and headed back into night, back to nervous and worried wife and return back to his normal, mundane day-to-day life in waking hours of the following day._


	3. Chapter 3 - 1944 Part one

Chapter 3 - Part 1

_1944_

_**Norfolk, Virginia**_

Alyssa had been walking on egg shells as the days passed. The day that she had been dreading was rapidly approaching. Soon she would leave this mortal coil, leave her husband and daughter behind and go where they could not follow.

The visions had been a few and far between as the months progressed. Each was blurred and muted, making each one harder to interrupt than the one that came before. She would always forcibly awaken, covered from head to toe in sweat with tears threatening to break free and cascade down her cheeks.

Each night, her beloved Derek never seemed to stir, she was thankful for this. She did not want to worry him but still the sight of him deep in slumber would calm her mind even if it was for a moment. The very nature of her gift, if you could call it that was slowing wearing her down. It was destroying her emotionally, mentally and physically to the point that it was starting to show.

Her crows feet now had crowfeet of their own. Wrinkles were gradually forming upon her once youthful face. Under each eye, deep dark and heavy bags were standing out, a clear sign of the one too many restless nights that she had suffered through these past few difficult years.

A stabbing pain came and quickly disappeared as soon as it had appeared. Alyssa grabbed her head, wincing at the familiar ache. Headaches were becoming a daily occurrence and no amount of over the counter pain medication took the edge of the sharp, vicious throbbing off. She had simply forced herself to endure, to hide in the presence of others under the mask of a smile. However Alyssa would answer with the same tired expression. "Really, everything is alright" People would accept this statement one way or another and carry on.

Days were slowly merging into one another. Alyssa was finding it hard to focus onto even the simplest of tasks for too long, her mind would not help but wander. She could be at the sink, washing the plates from dinner but find her washing the same plate several times. Not matter who much she tried to deny it, it was crystal clear from her loved ones that something was distracting her, that something was on her mind.

It had not escaped Derek's noticed that something was going on with Alyssa but she was placing it close to her chest, this truly cut him. The joyful light to would shine within her deep green eye whenever she smiled had dulled to the point that her eyes had hardened and lost that light that he loved to see. He could see that her smile was not longer reaching her eyes, it was simply a false front to hide behind. This tugged at his heart strings, the very thought that his wife of more than ten years was shying away from him, hiding her pain from him. It had taken her five years to open to him about her gift which seemed to him to be more like a curse. This was driving a wedge between the two of them and it was now her and him, no longer a united front standing strong against the world.

Derek felt as if the sky had opened, revealing a stranger standing across the room staring back at him, not the wife who leaned on him when she needed help. Her gift had never been a problem. Sure it had taken time for him to come to terms with the fact that his wife knew that was coming but that was how it was. The night terrors however, frightened him to the core and deepened the lines across his forehead. The very sound of her gasp as she jolted herself away was something he wished he had never heard. Derek had tried reaching out to her but she was pushing him away.

Alyssa was forever on edge, biting her red rosy lips whenever she passed through their home. His auburn locks were peppered with grey hairs, his own coffee colored eyes had lost their youthful shine and his facial featured ad hardened with time. This was something had could not be halted, time slowed for no man. There was one thing that he was truly thankful for, their daughter Cara, the apple of his eye. She was still young and not to see what was happened to her mother. Alyssa was slowly cracking under the pressure of her gift.

Standing on the threshold, Derek turned his head to glance back at his wife, who was humming a familiar tune, washing the breakfast dishes. Cara was ahead of him, eager to get to school. "Come on Dad! She whined at him, not wanting to be late again for the third time this week. Tonight would be a special night, he would see to that. "I'm coming Cara! He called, as he turned, closing the door behind him.

Finding herself alone, nothing was screaming at her as soon turned away from the sink. The dishes were washed, dried and put away. Yesterday's laundry which she had put off could wait as she found herself lost in thought, standing there contemplating everything that had left up to this moment.

Each vision had been cryptic and nothing more than a piece in a puzzle that was bigger than her. The future was out of her reach, it was something that she was not meant to be a part. She had never seen herself beside her daughter as she grew into a woman. One day she had seen it, she had seen herself die, it had horrifying at first but she come to the realization when she had witness the death of her own brother in a vision in the years that followed that in the end everything and everyone dies. She no longer feared death, it was inescapable.

Alyssa was the messenger and nothing more, that was the purpose of her gift. Time had ticked by, she glanced at the clock on the wall. The sound of tire screeching against the road, alerted her that her daughter was home. Time had escaped her, the day was almost over.

Suddenly as she moved to stand, pain rained down on her. This time greater than before, consuming her and a dizziness threw her off and soon she found herself falling. She collided with the floor hard, her long blond hair spread behind her, framing her face much like a halo. A sad smile caressed her lips,this was it. This was what she had seen. Her eyes lids were growing heavy as her daughter's voice called out from the hallway, moving closer to her. Alyssa wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and give into the darkness and let it take her home but not yet.

The darkness was comforting, welcoming and it was calling her home and away from pain. No longer could she try and fight the never ending headaches which had been moving her closer to this moment. She could not move her head towards to the frightened scream of her daughter, as she approached her. "Mum!" The fear was crystal clear in her voice and it showed across her face. "Dad, come quickly!" Cara called out to her father, hoping that he could solve this and help Alyssa up and that they were return to their lives but not this time.

The precognitive hated the very thought that she was leaving her daughter and her Derek. Fate could not be fought, however it always could altered, changed. "He'll make you happy Cara" was all that escaped her lips as she breathed her last breath. The smile was left upon her lips, she had seen her daughter's future and there someone waiting for her in the darkness.

Alyssa Dane, the elusive precognitive mutant was gone, All that was left was a shell, the empty form that laid in the arms of balling daughter as her husband stood in the doorway shocked. He could not believe this had happened. She was gone, his Alyssa. The roses in his right hand slipped free and dropped like a dead weight much like his heart had.


	4. Chapter 4 - 1944 Part two

_**1944 Part two**_

The wind whistled around Jackson as he stood there, staring solemnly down at the grave of one of his closest friends. Stephan had not answered him when he dared to ask him to come with him but that was his choice.

It felt like yesterday that Alyssa was smiling brightly as they seated alone in an almost deserted café in a town where no-one knew their name, she had been heavily pregnant with her daughter at the time. It had a stolen moment between friends, nothing more. Her husband had been a lucky man. His traitorous heart ever still divided, it beat for Alyssa and for his now ex-wife, even standing at her grave, the tall blonde haired man could not hold back his tears nor his feelings which caused his heart to burn in pain.

This was not his loss, she had never been his wife, no his former wife was now living with her mother in Manhattan taking their daughter with her but he didn't need Alyssa's gift to see that one coming.

The sound of approaching footsteps alerted him that he was no longer alone with his grief and shot him back to reality and out of his thoughts. He turned on his heel to find himself face to face with Alyssa, human husband Derek. His eyes had sunk, he looked gaunt as if he was wasting away.

"Jackson" Derek greeted, there was no emotion behind his words. It was cold and empty as he moved to stand next to him. "Derek, my condolences for your loss, she was something special and I can't understand what you are going through right now" He was trying to find the right words but it was difficult and very awkward. Would could be said to this man, a man he barely knew?

However before Jackson could, utter another word, a hand pushed a package wrapped in brown paper and tied with string and a envelope was pushed into his hands. As quickly as he had came, Derek turned on his heel and left, only a stop for a moment and turn his head to be speak. "She always knew, this was meant to yours" Then he was gone.

He threw his head back, a short laugh escaped his cracked lips. This was her all over, leaving notes after she is gone with instructions. His name was scrawled in her disjointed handwriting across the front of the envelope. Quickly he opened it, his eyes took in the words written upon the page.

_Jackson,_

_If you are reading this, then I am gone and my husband has delivered this to you on the twelfth October at 14:45pm. I knew you would be here, my friend standing before my grave. I wish it hadn't been like this and I would be one asking this of you._

_Within the package is something that will help our children and will lead him closer to what we discussed all those years ago. However what I ask for you is that you arrange for it to be hand delivered to an address that I have enclosed on the 31__st__ July 1962. I know this is asking much of you, I know that I should but I must._

_I trust you with a task such as this but please do not open the package my friend. If events had not played out as they did, I would've said yes._

_Keep safe Jackson_

_Alyssa Dane_

This had left him speechless but at the time, he knew that Alyssa had always planned ahead with the knowledge that she was not going to see the fruition of planning. He would honor his friend's last wish.

_**Westchester, New York**_

A young boy wandered through the halls of the vast estate, clutching a baseball bat. Moving down the stairs, his hold on the bat never lessened for a moment. It was his only source of protection in this moment of heightened emotion. He approached the kitchen, it was where the noise was coming from and he was worried that it might be a burglar but he had his trusty bat.

As he round the corner, he greeted by a familiar sight which was a relief. The bat was lowered, now resting at his side. "Mother, what are you..." He started moving into the kitchen before continuing with his train of thought. "I thought you were a burglar" Soon he was starting in front of his mother, she was dressed to the nines in one of many red dresses, with a string of pearls draped around her neck.

"I didn't mean to scare you, darling" She warmed replied, smiling down at him. One arm resting on top of the door of the opened fridge, which in the moment before she had been rummaging through like a starved child. " I was getting a snack" It was simple explanation to her actions but still a shocked expression was clearly displayed across his face. "Go back to bed" She told him, trying to get him to turn around and go back to his room but he did not move an inch, he remained rooted to the spot. "What's the matter?" She questioned, curious at his silence and at his resistance to her soft words. Tilting her head slightly, she tried again "Go on, back to bed" but still he did not move.

Leaning forward, closer to him with another smile, this one almost maternal she spoke once again "I'm make you a hot chocolate" It was enough to settle the niggling feeling in the back of his mind, this was not his mother.

"Who are you? The words spilt out, he wanted to know who she was. She looked like his mother, she sounded like his mother but she did not behave like his mother. His head turned, glancing at the framed photo on the wall. It had been taken recently, it was of him and his mother, she was standing proudly in front of their home in that very red dress that this imposer was wearing. "And what have you done with my mother" His courage was starting to show in his words.

"_My mother has never set foot in this kitchen in her life" _His words, although not verbally spoken echoed within her mind. His eyes searched for the source of the voice, they moved from left to right as she moved away from him, stepping backwards. Her hands flew upwards, before clutching the sides of her head. "_And she certainly never made me hot chocolate, unless you count ordering the maid to do it"_

His youthful eyes locked with hers, she had stopped moving as her back touched the counter behind her. As she dropped her hands, her face began to change. It looked like scales were dancing across her facial features changing the tone into a deep shade of blue which spread down from her face, encompassing her neck and soon the rest of her body. It was not only the colour of her skin that changed, her eyes changed to a yellow hue and the her pupils thinned much like a cat's. The soft curls of blonde hair flickered into a deep auburn locks that laid flat against her head. Soon standing before a frightened child.

His shock quickly shifted as he watched in wonder at her shape-shifting. "You're not scared of me?" Timidly she asked, curious but scared of what his answer might be. Would his eyes harden suddenly and turn to steely blocks of ice?

"I always believed, I couldn't be the only in the world" He started, quickly continuing "The only person who was different and here you are" He had always hoped that there was someone like him. Never had he dreamt that he would find another unique individual in his kitchen on a night like this.

"Charles Xavier" Stepping forward, he stretched a hand out for her to shake as he introduced himself. Slowly she placed her scaled azule hand in his. "Raven" His new friend had a name and Charles was glad to know it. "You're hungry and alone" It was a statement of the situation, not a question directed at her.

"Take whatever you want, we've got lots of food" He told her before gestures to the cupboards behind him that held the food that the servants would use when cooking the family meals, they did not need it all. He was willing to share it with his new friend. " You don't have to steal."

A thought quickly passed through his mind. "In fact. You never have to steal again" Of this he was certain. Charles Xavier was inviting her to stay, to join the family and be happy and never be alone again. A smile graced her lips, it was the only answer she could muster. Charles had his answer, Raven was here to stay.


	5. Chapter 5 - Filler

Chapter 5 In-between

Much had happened in the years that followed. It was to be excepted, after all Alyssa had warned them but the words went unheeded and fell on deaf ears. Stephan had drunk himself into oblivion, driving himself mad as his hatred for the world around him deepened. His son was slowly falling under the influence of his father's intoxicated rants, paying close attention to the words. His frightened wife hung in the doorway, clinging to the frame for support.

Stephan's rage had worsened over the long years, soon turning on his long suffering wife. She felt the full force of his anger, each time that golden liquid passed through his calloused lips. His fist would always collide with her supple skin but that was not the worse part. Oh no, it was the electricity that followed, the sparks would encircle his fist and flow into her. It was a pain like no other and has had always wonder why she had not died each time that he shocked her. Not that Stephan bothered to notice anymore. He hated what he was; the alcohol had become his only escape from this world.

It would lead him to a dark night, rain beating down on the windscreen of his car with him behind the wheel. His wife beside him in the passenger seat her hands tightly clutching the seatbelt in fear, fear of him running them off the road. Alcohol clouded his mind as he drove down this road. He never saw the truck coming; he was too focused on his shouting at his terrified wife. "Stephen, please keep your eyes on the road" She pleaded with him but it did not deter him. "Shut your mouth woman" He screamed at her but the sound of the horn was too late, too close. His eyes were drawn back to the road but his reflexes were lax, impaired and he could not escape the fate.

He tried to swerve out of the path of the sixteen wheeled truck as it collided with the smaller vehicle. Neither would walk away from this with their lives. Stephen died as he lived, running recklessly head first in the path of danger, no caring of those around him. A piece of metal speared him, straight through his heart killing him instantly. Stephan Ashford, the reluctant manipulator of Electric had left the world as quickly as he had entered it, leaving his son behind.

Jackson found himself alone, his friends were gone and now he was the only one left but how long before he too was dead and buried. He dared to think about opening the package Alyssa had left with him but he would not defy her last wish, not now. The time was drawing near, he had get to work on making sure it would be delivered as Alyssa had instructed. Of this he was certain that he would see through as far as he could.


	6. Author's note

This is just a note to say that I've not completely forgotten about this story, it has been a thought in the back of my mind over the last few weeks. I have every intention of updating this very soon. I just to rework the plot I had originally intended to have weaved throughout the events of first class and now into X-men days of future past since seeing once for the second time. It will likely need to be rewritten in a few places. Just watch this space

**Dragon of Ice and Light**


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